Google Buys Korean Blog Software Firm

Google has bought Korean blogging software developer Tatter and Company, the two companies said on Friday.

The companies did not disclose how much Google paid for the acquisition.

Tatter co-chief executive Chang-Won Kim announced the deal on his personal blog in an entry titled "We've been Googled!," saying that the acquisition would help Google increase its market share in the country.

Kim described Google's market share in Korea as "minor" and said Korean Web users mainly use portals such as Yahoo's.

Korea has the ninth-highest number of Internet users in the world, according to Internet World Stats, a Web site that tracks such data.

Google said in an e-mailed statement the acquisition will "allow us to enhance our publishing tools in Korea."

Tatter owns a blogging platform called Textcube, which Kim said was popular among Korean bloggers. Blogs are Web journals where people typically write opinions and link to other material on the Internet.

As part of Google, the company will try to introduce Textcube to bloggers outside Korea, Kim added.

Google already owns a blogging software called Blogger, which it acquired in 2003.

Shares of Google closed Friday's session up nearly 1 percent at $437.66 on the Nasdaq.